1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid jetting apparatuses which jet liquids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid jetting apparatuses such as ink-jet printers jetting ink from nozzles toward a recording medium to record images have been conventionally utilized in various fields. With respect to such liquid jetting apparatuses, there is a known technology to wipe away the liquid adhered to the liquid jetting surface with an elastic wiper. In particular, the liquid adhered to the liquid jetting surface is wiped away by moving the wiper relative to the liquid jetting surface in a state that the end portion of the wiper is bent or flexed by contact with the liquid jetting surface, of the liquid jetting head, in which a plurality of nozzles are formed.
However, if the wiper is further moved to cross the end portion of the liquid jetting head after it has wiped away the liquid adhered to the liquid jetting surface, at the moment of coming off the liquid jetting surface, the wiper bent or flexed by contact with the liquid jetting surface will be recovered in an instant. Then, due to a considerable repulsion force, the liquid adhered to the wiper will be spattered around.
In order to solve the above problem, as a configuration to diminish spattering of the liquid adhered to the wiper, in the liquid jetting apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-344572, for example, after wiping the area of the liquid jetting surface in which the nozzles are formed, the wiper is stopped in a state of contact with the liquid jetting surface before moving to cross the end portion of the liquid jetting head. Then, the stopped wiper is moved in a direction perpendicular to the liquid jetting surface, and the flexed wiper is recovered while being separated from the liquid jetting surface.
However, in the liquid jetting apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-344572, when the wiper is stopped in a state of contact with the liquid jetting surface, and the flexed wiper is separated from the liquid jetting surface, the wiper may sometimes come off the liquid jetting surface before being completely recovered. At this time, the wiper is recovered from a deformed state to the original state at a stretch, thereby causing the ink adhered to the wiper to spatter around. Especially, a deeply flexed wiper contains a considerable elastic energy. Therefore, when the wiper is recovered, a large repulsion force may be generated to bring in a problem that the liquid adhered to the wiper spatters in a wide range inside of the liquid jetting apparatus body. It is conceivable to separate the wiper from the liquid jetting surface at a slow speed so that the wiper is not recovered vigorously. However, in this manner, it takes a longer time to separate the wiper from the liquid jetting surface.